Though much of her work has been on the big screen, it was her Emmy-winning role in the series The Practice (1997–2004) that brought her critical acclaim and widespread recognition. As a large woman, many of her roles typecast her as the pitiful “fat girl,” as she was in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion (1997), but she showed that she is a strong voice for women of all sizes with her portrayal of attorney Ellenor Frutt, and as Virginia Cranehill in The Road to Wellville (1994). Her recent films include Happiness (1998), and she has done her own one-woman show Wake Up, I'm Fat! (1995) which she turned into a book in 1999. She plays Elvis Presley's mother Gladys in the 2005 CBS miniseries Elvis.